Teria Lee will spend up to the next several weeks of her life walking the halls of Pontiac High School looking for any trace of danger from fire.

Lee, a member of the Pontiac schools' Police Authority, got the assignment after a recent fire drill, when the alarms did not go off as required.

The same thing happened at Herrington Elementary. So Herrington also has an individual assigned to monitor the halls the entire day school is in session, said Superintendent Brian Dougherty.

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Replacing the fire alarms will cost the district -- which just learned its deficit has grown to $38.5 million -- another $425,000, Dougherty said. That includes $300,000 for the new system at the high school and $125,000 for the elementary.

It is an example of the maintenance costs that continue to come up regardless of whether the district has adequate money for operations.

Under state law, a school is required to have an alarm system. If it is not working, the state fire marshal requires "a fire watch" -- a person dedicated to monitoring the building for any sign of fire until the system is installed and working. When people are in the building, that is all he/she can do, the superintendent said.

"It will take about four to six weeks to have a full alarm system installed," Dougherty said.

Cash flow at the district has improved somewhat because the state freed up about $6.3 million, equal to three months of state aid. The state had put a hold on the funds until a required, corrected audit was completed and turned in to the school board and the state.

March state aid is still being held back, however, until the district turns in an amended deficit elimination plan. The plan that was submitted by the district and previously approved by the state must be amended by the Pontiac school board because the original deficit of $26 million is now up to $38.5 million, according to the new audit.

Dougherty said once a new plan is submitted and approved, the district can apply to the Michigan Department of Treasury to get a loan against anticipated tax revenue. In part, this money would be used to pay off the $7.8 million owed to cover health insurance premiums for teachers.

As of now, the court has ordered the district to levy taxes against the portions of eight communities in the Pontiac school district to pay off that amount this summer. Dougherty is hoping the district can pay off the debt before the tax bills go out.